


i want to stand by your side

by fandoe



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Luz Noceda Needs Therapy, Luz Noceda Needs a Hug, Luz has the best friends ever, Post-Episode: s01e18 Agony of a Witch, Sad Luz Noceda, Self-Deprecating Luz, Written Before Young Blood Old Souls, Written Pre-Finale, hooty isn't annoying for once and we love him for it, let me manifest this, like a lot of it, like she's seriously not okay, they're getting eda back, try not to cry challenge: failed, we stan adorable babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:07:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26159251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandoe/pseuds/fandoe
Summary: After what happened with Eda at the Emperor's Palace, an extremely self-deprecating Luz needs some support from her friends.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne & Luz Noceda, Gus & Luz Noceda, King & Luz Noceda, Luz Noceda & Willow Park
Comments: 4
Kudos: 186





	i want to stand by your side

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Just a quick reminder that this was posted before the season finale! (aka this is just me manifesting some best friend squad comfort for Luz)

Luz walked through the door, barely registering Hooty’s greeting and her own voice returning it. What had happened? Her brain didn’t seem to want to cooperate with helping her get her thoughts in order. She looked up at the table in front of the couch, her eyes slightly widening at the sight in front of her. A cake and a wrapped present sat on the table expectantly, decorations like confetti, balloons and little colourful flags strewn about the room. All of a sudden, King jumped out of the cake, announcing his presence with “The cake is me!” What the demon said next, though, was what snapped Luz back to reality.

“Hey, um, where’s Eda?”

The mere mention of the witch brought everything that had happened during the day flooding back into Luz’ memory. She could feel her eyes filling up with tears and her knees give out, no longer able to support the weight of the crushing guilt that had fallen upon her shoulders. As she sobbed louder and louder, King and Hooty by her side, attempting to comfort her, she found herself wishing that she was stronger. Wishing that she was a real witch. Wishing that she could do real magic. Wishing that she could have helped Eda. Her breathing started getting ragged. Quicker. She couldn't prevent the onslaught of tears that overtook her, followed by the body-wrenching sobs that tore at her chest. She couldn't see. She couldn’t hear. The only thing she could feel was her weight on top of her legs and the guilt and regret that was consuming her without mercy. She barely registered movement around her and then felt something slightly warm press up against her sides.

She didn’t know how long she had been sitting there, sobbing and sobbing until she couldn’t breathe, catching her breath, and having the cycle restart. Her legs felt uncomfortably numb from how long she'd been laying the full weight of her body on them, but she couldn’t be bothered to move to return the blood flow. She deserved to be uncomfortable. She deserved to suffer. She couldn’t save Eda. _Eda_. The thought of her mentor sent the young girl into another bout of desperate sobs and gasps for air in between, tears still pouring from her eyes. Suddenly, she felt the warmth on her sides move back, and what sounded like someone speaking to her. She couldn’t lift her head. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t hear anything… until she felt herself being picked up bridal style by someone who was very warm, and that same someone carrying her over to the couch so she could lie down. The moment she was placed on the ragged, fluffy pillows, she fell on her side and curled in on herself, still sobbing. Still unable to see, or hear, or understand any of the noises around her.

She felt her head being placed on something warm, and then she felt someone running their hands through her hair. She cried some more. She didn’t deserve the luxury of someone caring for her like this.

She started dozing off, absolutely exhausted from all the crying and having to walk back to the Owl House on her own after everything that happened. Tears still rolled down her face, but she was now emitting less of those heart-wrenching sobs as exhaustion took over and she fell into a deep sleep.

\-----

Luz awoke slowly, exhaustion weighing down every bone in her body. The first thing she noticed was that her head was still laying on something warm, which she now realized was someone’s lap, and that a pair of hands was still gently, softly, running through her hair. She blinked the sleep from her eyes and tried to hold back tears as she recalled the events at the Emperor’s Palace. Before she could start thinking about that again, she heard someone humming. The person who was soothingly petting her hair. They were humming for her. To calm her down. How long had she slept? How long had she been laying on this person’s lap? Their legs must be numb by now, judging by how tired Luz still felt. Slowly, the human began to stir and stretch. The person humming stopped their song. They didn’t, however, stop their gentle ministrations on her hair.

“Luz? Are you awake?” Amity. The person humming for her, the person soothingly running their fingers through her hair, the person whose lap she’d been laying on, for hours, probably. That was Amity.

“Yeah. I’m awake.” Luz was surprised at how rough her voice sounded. She had really just croaked the words out, her throat sore and dry. She didn’t sit up yet. The hands on her hair, still moving, were doing a great job of calming her down. “How long was I out for?”

“About five hours,” Amity responded. “Willow and Gus went to get some groceries to make sure you had food when you woke up, then they went into your room to take a nap. I stayed here because my foot’s still in a cast and… I wanted to take care of you. I couldn’t leave you alone. Not after what Willow told me happened with Lilith… and what she and King suspect happened at the Palace.” Amity sighed.

Luz began to tear up again. Her friends had gone out to get groceries so she didn’t go hungry? Amity had stayed behind to take care of her? Humming so she calmed down? She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve them. She didn’t deserve anything good. It was her fault Eda got captured. It was her fault King and Hooty were now alone. She started to cry again, sobs making their way through her body and her shoulders shaking.

“Hey, hey, Luz, it’s okay. Here, sit up.” Amity helped a barely responsive Luz into a sitting position, then softly embraced her and started stroking her hair. She started humming a soft melody, something that sounded like a lullaby. She let the human cry onto her shoulder for who knows how long, until she had calmed down again and her tears ran dry. 

Luz sniffled a bit and wiped her face with her school uniform cowl. She then looked at Amity, surprised by the worry and care in the young witch’s eyes. Amity herself was surprised as well, by the amount of pain and sorrow that she saw swirling in Luz’ eyes.

Before either of them could speak, however, they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming from the staircase.

“Is everyone alright?” Gus. “We heard crying, is Luz okay? Is she awake?” And Willow. They both walked down the stairs, finding Luz awake and sitting up on the couch next to Amity, who looked worried sick for the human.

“Yeah, I’m awake,” the human muttered in response. “Not that it’s a good thing. I’d be doing everyone a favour if I just slept forever. Then no one would have to worry about cleaning up my dumb messes.”

The trio of friends looked at each other, concerned. What happened at the Emperor’s Palace had clearly traumatized Luz beyond anything they could have imagined. The poor girl’s hands were shaking and silent tears were once again escaping her eyes.

“Luz,” Willow began. “We’re all very worried for you. None of us want you to sleep forever. None of us mind helping you solve any of your problems. We love you…” the plant witch swallowed. “Could you tell us what happened at the Emperor’s Palace after Lilith sent us away?”

The tears falling from Luz’ eyes began falling quicker. As she prepared herself to begin retelling the story, she could feel Amity taking her left hand and holding it, and Willow sitting down next to her and doing the same with her right hand. Gus drew a quick spell circle, after which she felt an illusion-made hand start to softly rub at her back.

And so, she started recounting the events of the previous day. Amity knew what had happened up until what Gus and Willow experienced, so the tired human didn’t have to retell that part of the story. 

She told them about how Lilith had kept her trapped inside of an illusion orb without directing a word to her until The Owl Lady arrived, seething with rage. 

She told them about how they had fought fiercely, moving too fast for her to even distinguish their features, only the colour of their magic helping her recognize who was who.

She told them about how Lilith had used her as bait to bring Eda to her, and as a human shield, putting the illusion orb Luz was in in front of herself when she was in immediate danger or shooting a spell at her and throwing over the edge of the drawbridge to gain the upper hand, knowing Eda would prioritize keeping her human safe before continuing the fight. 

She told them about the revelation that Lilith had cursed her own sister, and that she had called it “working smarter.” This drew a gasp from Amity, who didn’t know that Eda was suffering from a curse, and all three of her friends were even more surprised to hear that it was Lilith who had brought that curse upon her.

Tears started falling more rapidly out of her eyes, nearing the part of the story that was by far the hardest to recount, and the most traumatizing.

“I broke out of the illusion orb and yelled at Eda that her magic was affecting the progression of her curse. Then, Lilith said the bubble was for my protection. She cast a spell at me, lifted me and-” she choked back a sob. Amity tightened her grip on Luz’ hand and Willow put her other hand on the human’s knee. Gus hugged her shins. They were already horrified by the story thus far, and judging by the human girl’s choked sobs, they hadn’t even gotten to the worst part yet.

“And threw me over the edge of the bridge.” Willow went pale, Gus gasped and Amity almost yelled an incredulous “WHAT?!” before she stopped herself. Luz was sobbing again; this wasn’t the time. She was more important. The human’s three friends wrapped her in a comforting hug and let her cry and calm down so she could continue.

“I- I fell. And I fell. It felt so slow. I knew I was gonna die. I should have died. But Eda, she-” Luz felt her lip tremble and stopped to take a deep breath. She didn’t want to fall into another bout of sobs. “She cast a spell and stopped me right before I hit the bottom of the pit. She started to lift me out, but Lilith did a counter-spell and started pushing me back down. Hard. I begged Eda to stop. The effort to not let me die... It was draining her magic. Fast. But she didn’t want to stop. She told me… a few parting words.” The human choked up at that. “And then, with a horrifying scream, she used up the last of her magic in a big explosion of energy.” Tears were flowing freely down her face again. “I started to fall again, but Owlbert managed to stop my fall and pull me up back onto the bridge. The first thing I saw was Eda, lying on the ground. When I approached her, she let out a screech and turned… into the Owl Beast. Before she could do anything, though, Lilith trapped her with some illusion rope.” Luz started to squeeze Willow and Amity’s hands tighter, her brow furrowing. “She said something about letting the healing begin. I was too angry to remember exactly what it was. I jumped on her back, calling her a monster, trying to hit her, pull at her hair, anything. Owlbert tried to help. But she pushed me off easily, and then snatched Owlbert out of the air. She told me to leave. Said that Eda was finally with her real family. And as the bridge started to retreat, she told me to go back to my own world. I could only stare at the palace doors as they closed. I don’t know how long I stood there, staring. Then, my body started moving by itself. My brain was cloudy. I don’t remember walking back, I just remember the pain in my feet from hours and hours of walking. I walked all night. I arrived here at dawn.” Luz finished telling her story, her eyes blank and empty. “I figure King told you what happened when I arrived.”

Willow answered. “Yeah, he did. You got home and crumbled to the ground. Hooty and King tried to comfort you but you were completely unresponsive, and it seemed like you were getting worse. So King went out to find me while Hooty stayed here to guard you.” Willow fidgeted with the hem of her tunic, looking down. “He found me on my way to school, explained that you had just collapsed the way you did. We decided to split up. I told him where he could find Gus and I went to get Amity. She summoned an abomination to carry us so she wouldn’t slow us down, her words. All four of us met up in the middle and headed to the Owl House. We found you still kneeling on the ground. You were having a serious panic attack. Before either I or Gus could act, Amity rushed forward, threw her crutches on the ground, and kneeled in front of you. She tried talking to you, but you just weren’t there. She picked you up, completely ignoring her foot, and carried you over to the couch. She insisted on staying with you while Gus and I agreed to go get stuff for when you felt better. We looked around and noticed the cabinets were pretty empty.” Willow looked back up at Luz, and was shocked to find that her friend’s shoulders were shaking with sobs. Amity had already wrapped an arm around her shoulders, doing her best to soothe her.

“I- I don- nt deser- erve you guy- s” Luz choked out between sobs. “I don- don’t des- deserve anyth- ing good.” 

The human girl's tears seemed to be unending, a constant stream. Despite how much she had cried already, she just didn't run out of them. The poor girl must have been dehydrated. But her friends didn't mind. They lent their shoulders for her to cry on, without a moment's hesitation. They brought her water to drink, even if she was just going to cry it back out in a moment. They took care of her the way she would have taken care of them had they been in such a situation.

Amity looked deep in thought. She looked at Willow, who of course knew what was going on in her head. The plant witch shot her an encouraging look, knowing that Amity's words might be exactly what Luz needed at that moment.

"Luz…" Amity started. "You deserve everything. You've done so much good. You're such an amazing person. So selfless. So considerate. So loving. You made me change, after years of being too scared to do so because of my parents' expectations. You gave me all the right pushes in all the right directions. I think that I'm talking for everyone here when I tell you that your impact on our lives has only been positive. My dream…" She bit her lip, trying to find the right words. The human's tears had slowed down, and she was looking at Amity, her full attention on her. "My dream used to be to join the Emperor's Coven. It was all I thought I wanted in life, all I thought I needed. But… you made me realize that that wasn't what I really wanted. All of that was my parents' wishes and expectations of me as a Blight… The same expectations that made me push Willow away. The same expectations that turned me into someone I'm not." She took Luz' hand into both of her own. "You broke me out of that. You made me a better person. You made me realize that all of that wasn't really me. And now I know what my dream is. Not my parents'. Nobody else's but mine." She took a deep breath and did something she never thought she'd dare do. She planted a soft, tender kiss on the back of Luz' hand, her ears burning as she did so, but ultimately not regretting the action one bit. " _I want to stand by your side. No matter what. Because I know you'd do the same for me in a heartbeat._ That's my new dream. The dream that you helped me figure out." She looked up at Luz, who had an astonished look on her face. "Luz… we love you. We want you to be happy. We want to help you. We are going to help you. We are getting Eda back. Together. Because you deserve all the happiness in the world. And we know that Eda is an important factor in that happiness." She smiled wide at the human, who had tears in her eyes again. But this time, they were not tears of sadness. Luz wiped at her eyes with her sleeve, and looked around at her friends with a smile.

"Okay. Let's get Eda back. Together."

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! This time I felt like writing something angstier and judging by my friend's crying at various parts, I feel like I succeeded. I wanted to post this before "Young Blood, Old Souls" came out, and I managed to squeeze through my writer's block at 1 am to finish this fic.
> 
> I thoroughly enjoyed writing this! There's another longer (maybe multi-chapter?) angstier fic coming, though I don't know when because (as I said earlier) I think I've got writer's block :').
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to follow me on twitter (@gromluz) if you're interested in seeing more of me and my ramblings. Have a nice day!


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